XM radio
J. carLton Collins, CPA
One of the hottest new
technologies has been XM Radio and Sirius Radio – two satellite based
radio services that costs between $100 to $200 per year, depending on
the premium channels and services you subscribe to. I tried XM Radio in
my Chevy Avalanche for about four months and presented below is my
review of this service.
I like satellite radio services when I rent
a car while traveling on business, because I can listen to whatever I
want without having to change stations. However, XM Radio fell well
short when I purchased it for my own personal use for the following
reasons:
-
Filthy and Vulgar Comedy
- I like to listen to comedy. Unfortunately, both of the comedy
channels provided by XM Radio contain extremely vulgar language and
extremely mature topics mixed all day long with the funny stuff. As a
result, I am unable to listen to the XM Radio comedy channels while my
family is in ear shout, because these vulgar words and topics pop up
frequently without warning. My kids are young and it would be wrong to
expose them to this type of foul language. I do not like the vulgarity
myself, and for a while I was able to tolerate it OK. However, after a
while the curse words and taking the Lord’s name in vain and talk of
filthy sex acts got to me, and I decided that I did not want those
types of thoughts in my head. The constant barrage of vulgarity
pollutes the mind to the extent that it has an affect.
-
Poor Internet
Reliability – I also subscribed to XM radio via the Internet only
to find that sometimes the service was unavailable – even after
following the XM Radio Help advice of rebooting the computer.
-
Talk Shows – Next to
comedy, the type of radio shows I like to listen to are new talk shows
and news analysis shows. Unfortunately, XM Radio does not carry any of
the many talk shows that I like to listen to frequently.
-
Poor Reception – My
family gave me the removable XM Radio device as a gift and I installed
it myself in my Chevrolet Avalanche. Unfortunately this does not work
well when I travel or drive under power lines. The signal is picked up
by the XM Radio device, and then transmitted to my automobile’s stereo
system on an FM bandwidth. At times, this works fine, for example when
driving around my home area in Norcross, Georgia. However, power lines
disrupt the signal and when traveling, the signal is horrible once I
get about 12 miles away from my house. I guess your supposed to tune
in different FM radio channels to the XM Radio device as you drive,
but doesn’t this defeat the whole purpose? I can get radio stations
for free that are susceptible to static when driving under power lines
or traveling – why some I pay for the same thing – especially when the
free radio stations provide the talk shows I would most like to hear?
-
Removable Device –
The removable device option requires the use of my cigarette lighter
for power. Therefore I cannot recharge my cell phone and listen to XM
radio at the same time. Further, this solution results in cables
hanging all over my dash board.
-
Music Selection – In
an effort to appeal to the US market, XM radio appeals to no market.
People have different tastes in different parts of the country, and
while XM Radio plays songs I like under each genre, I find myself
listening to too many songs that I do not like, or have never heard
before. I get better satisfaction from my local rock or oldies
stations.
-
Hidden Cancellation
– XM Radio does not make it easy to cancel your subscription, they do
not provide that service on the Internet.
As an additional note, the last six times I
have rented an AVIS rental car, I paid extra to rent a car with XM
Radio. Unfortunately, AVIS has not provided a rental car with XM Radio
for six consecutive car rentals, yet I still had to pay the higher fee.
While not a big deal, I am not too happy about that either.
Well that’s it. I tried it and was not
impressed enough to keep the XM Radio subscription payments. If you do
go with XM Radio, I strong recommend that you have the XM Radio device
installed, do not rely on the removable device – have the system
professionally installed. Also, you should write to the XM radio people
and ask them to provide a family friendly comedy channel. These two
improvements are needed before I will go back to satellite radio. Until
then if you want to listen music from your favorite genre, burn a CD,
buy an Mp3 player, or turn on the radio. It's free.
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